Figured they'd add a second circle pad in the redesign, shame they didn't and still have to buy an add-on just to get something that should have been there in the first place. It was one of the chief complaints on the original PSP and one Nintendo could have gotten right right off the bat.

Still may take a look at it though as sold my 3DS 3 days after getting it and with some of the new stuff like netflix and the web browser may be worth looking into.. especially if we can stream 3d netflix movies through it.

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"A gladiator does not fear death. He embraces it. Caresses it. Fucks it. Every time he enters the arena, he slides his cock into the mouth of the beast."

hmmmm, looks like they didn't up the battery life much: 3.5 to 6.5 hours versus 3 to 5 hours for the original release. on the plus side (I think) I'll have an instant backlog of at least a dozen games to choose from between 3DS and DS releases since I last owned it.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I don't get it either. People say that the 3DS is too heavy as it is (especially for games like Kid Icarus, where you have to use the touchscreen all the time with your other hand - that's why it came with a stand!), so the larger version is no doubt heavier as well (unless it's made of magic).

This seems like a bad idea overall.

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"All opinions posted are my own, and not those of my employers, who are appalled."

I don't get it either. People say that the 3DS is too heavy as it is (especially for games like Kid Icarus, where you have to use the touchscreen all the time with your other hand - that's why it came with a stand!), so the larger version is no doubt heavier as well (unless it's made of magic).

considering the DSi XL felt too light and cheap the added weight should make the 3DS XL feel better. it's kind of odd that the US is getting an AC adapter included while Europe and Japan don't though.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

The increase in size will certainly make the 3DS a more usable machine for some. With the clamshell unfolded, the device is close to as big as Appleís iPad. As the old saying goes though, bigger does not equal better. Nintendo continues to release games like the upcoming Kingdom Hearts: Dream, Drop, Distance that use the Circle Pad Pro peripheral, a Nintendo-made add-on that provides a second analog pad for the 3DS. This add-on has repeatedly sold out at GameStop and through Nintendoís own online retail outlet since it released in February, proving that thereís a clear demand for a second analog pad on the 3DS hardware. That the most significant hardware fault of the 3DS isnít addressed by this new model makes it a baffling release for the company.

looks like Gamestop has started taking pre-orders. I wonder if Amazon is going to sell them- they haven't had the 3DS available directly through them for quite some time, it's all been third party dealers selling off their site, and usually for more than what the system usually costs.

I wonder if it will just be an ac adapter in the US versions, or if there will be a cradle too?

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

Puzzled on the appeal of this as well. Roughly same battery life, blurrier graphics (image just stretches), no circle pad pro. I actually really like my 3DS but this just feels like a failed opportunity for them to make it a lot better.

Puzzled on the appeal of this as well. Roughly same battery life, blurrier graphics (image just stretches), no circle pad pro. I actually really like my 3DS but this just feels like a failed opportunity for them to make it a lot better.

If Nintendo launched the 3DS XL with a second stick, the price cut would have been for naught. Fragmentation would occur between 3DS XL owners, who have a second stick on board, and original 3DS owners, who don't. Game publishers would have to choose which user base to target, and I imagine most of them would target the larger installed base anyway.

Publishers could just give gamers a choice of control schemes, but that's not ideal, either. When you try to design a game for two different sets of buttons, it waters down the experience for both. A first-person shooter, for instance, wouldn't be able to map actions to the 3DS face buttons if some users need those buttons for camera controls.

By launching a 3DS XL without a second thumbstick, Nintendo is sending a message to third-party game developers: Come up with ideas that don't require the second stick. That may not be what core gamers want to hear, but it's all Nintendo can do at this point, short of forcing 10 million users to buy a $20 second stick peripheral.

Did Nintendo make a mistake by not including a second stick in the first place? Absolutely. But what's done is done, and now Nintendo has to make the best of it.

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

I donít think that is really valid. Both Resident Evil and Kid Icarus offer multiple control schemes. Kid Icarus goes so far to include an alternate control scheme that turns the face buttons on the 3DS into a 2nd, albeit clumsy, dpad. This makes it so you don't have to use the stylus at all.

A smarter compromise would have been a new circle pad on the XL and release a Circle pad+ extended battery add on discounted for early adopters.

I donít think that is really valid. Both Resident Evil and Kid Icarus offer multiple control schemes. Kid Icarus goes so far to include an alternate control scheme that turns the face buttons on the 3DS into a 2nd, albeit clumsy, dpad. This makes it so you don't have to use the stylus at all.

A smarter compromise would have been a new circle pad on the XL and release a Circle pad+ extended battery add on discounted for early adopters.

Both of those games are AAA titles. They had enough money and time behind them to make it happen. And neither of them does both really well. Not using the circle pad for RE is a bit of a pain. And Kid Icarus doesn't actually use the circle pad for control. It should absolutely be used to control the crosshair in place of the stylus, but it doesn't at all. IIRC, it adds a lefty option.

Puzzled on the appeal of this as well. Roughly same battery life, blurrier graphics (image just stretches), no circle pad pro. I actually really like my 3DS but this just feels like a failed opportunity for them to make it a lot better.

So if you bought a 3ds at launch, you got screwed. If you bought a cpp for it, and now wanna upgrade, screwed again bc you have to buy the cpp AGAIN too! I have a original 3ds and love it, but silly Nintendo..

yeesh, people complain when there is no circle pad pro announced for the XL, then they complain when there is one announce for the XL. Honestly, all that matters is that I'm happy, so get with the program folks!

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Because I can,also because I don't care what you want.XBL: OriginalCeeKayWii U: CeeKay

So if you bought a 3ds at launch, you got screwed. If you bought a cpp for it, and now wanna upgrade, screwed again bc you have to buy the cpp AGAIN too! I have a original 3ds and love it, but silly Nintendo..

I'm not defending Nintendo's choice to not include a circle pad pro in the new model but you're not really screwed if you prefer portability over the larger screen. The new model isn't going to fit in a pocket very well and as pointed out many times already, the graphics are stretched to fill the new screen so 3DS games are going to look worse and non 3DS games are probably going to look terrible since they are already stretched on the normal 3DS.

So if you bought a 3ds at launch, you got screwed. If you bought a cpp for it, and now wanna upgrade, screwed again bc you have to buy the cpp AGAIN too! I have a original 3ds and love it, but silly Nintendo..

I'm not defending Nintendo's choice to not include a circle pad pro in the new model but you're not really screwed if you prefer portability over the larger screen. The new model isn't going to fit in a pocket very well and as pointed out many times already, the graphics are stretched to fill the new screen so 3DS games are going to look worse and non 3DS games are probably going to look terrible since they are already stretched on the normal 3DS.

Not that a 3DS with a Circle Pad Pro is gonna fit in your pocket...

But, yeah, I certainly don't feel screwed as I don't see this as an upgrade at all.

The new model isn't going to fit in a pocket very well and as pointed out many times already, the graphics are stretched to fill the new screen so 3DS games are going to look worse and non 3DS games are probably going to look terrible since they are already stretched on the normal 3DS.

As with the 3DS, you can do 1:1 mode with DS games so they look the same as they did on the DS. The screens were too small with the regular 3DS, but with the XL, you should finally be able to play DS games on a 3DS without them looking blurry or tiny.

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"Why did the chicken cross the Mobius strip? To get to the same side." - The Big Bang Theory

If you do 1:1 it should be exactly the same size as they are on the 3DS(centered in a larger overall screen). The size of the pixels isnít changing they are just putting more on the screen. It will only be larger if you let it stretch.

So if you bought a 3ds at launch, you got screwed. If you bought a cpp for it, and now wanna upgrade, screwed again bc you have to buy the cpp AGAIN too! I have a original 3ds and love it, but silly Nintendo..

I'm not defending Nintendo's choice to not include a circle pad pro in the new model but you're not really screwed if you prefer portability over the larger screen. The new model isn't going to fit in a pocket very well and as pointed out many times already, the graphics are stretched to fill the new screen so 3DS games are going to look worse and non 3DS games are probably going to look terrible since they are already stretched on the normal 3DS.

Okay, screwed was harsh. Honestly, I don't feel screwed. I'm just SO CONFUSED by Nintendo and there train of thought, or lack there of.

So if you bought a 3ds at launch, you got screwed. If you bought a cpp for it, and now wanna upgrade, screwed again bc you have to buy the cpp AGAIN too! I have a original 3ds and love it, but silly Nintendo..

I'm not defending Nintendo's choice to not include a circle pad pro in the new model but you're not really screwed if you prefer portability over the larger screen. The new model isn't going to fit in a pocket very well and as pointed out many times already, the graphics are stretched to fill the new screen so 3DS games are going to look worse and non 3DS games are probably going to look terrible since they are already stretched on the normal 3DS.

Maybe but I never felt DS titles looked bad on the XL so I don't see why they would look worse on the 3D XL.

It really depends on your tolerance for stretched graphics and jagged edges. 2D DS games look “OK” on the 3DS, blurry but tolerable, but any of the 3D titles look hideous when stretched; not that they looked that good on the DS in the first place. At the size the XL is you will probably be able to count the pixels that make up characters in 2D DS titles and 3D titles will be akin to playing PS1 games on a modern HDTV set. That might be fine for you but it would drive me crazy. It has been shown that the 3DS has some antialiasing capabilities, it would be interesting if they were to find a way to use it on the older 3D games to make them more attractive. That seems fairly unlikely however.

It really depends on your tolerance for stretched graphics and jagged edges. 2D DS games look ďOKĒ on the 3DS, blurry but tolerable, but any of the 3D titles look hideous when stretched; not that they looked that good on the DS in the first place. At the size the XL is you will probably be able to count the pixels that make up characters in 2D DS titles and 3D titles will be akin to playing PS1 games on a modern HDTV set. That might be fine for you but it would drive me crazy. It has been shown that the 3DS has some antialiasing capabilities, it would be interesting if they were to find a way to use it on the older 3D games to make them more attractive. That seems fairly unlikely however.

Why not just play the DS games in 1:1 mode on the 3DSXL? The screen on the XL is large enough that you can see it and you get no stretching of the image.

All the impressions I've read say that the games look better in some ways on the XL, the larger screen compliments the 3D better. The one drawback I've been hearing is that jaggies are more apparent, but that's the opposite of a blurrier screen.

The question is does anyone care about the 3D? The only game I really used it on was Ghost Recon because it made the various levels of the battlefield pop out so you could better judge distance on your weapons and abilities.

As for the graphics I think it will depend. 2D games will look blurrier and 3D games will be jaggier.